Senior Systems Engineer — Defence Tech Tempest​/GCAP

Position: Senior Systems Engineer — Defence Tech for Tempest/GCAP

Your Impact

Are you looking to advance your career and work on technology that will shape the future of defence? Does working on developing the next generation of fast jet technology sound like a challenge that would be of interest? If you have skills in systems engineering and five years UK residency, we are looking for engineers to join us at Leonardo in Luton in a predominantly office and laboratory-based role.

Job Description

Your Impact

Are you looking to advance your career and work on technology that will shape the future of defence? Does working on developing the next generation of fast jet technology sound like a challenge that would be of interest? If you have skills in systems engineering and five years UK residency, we are looking for engineers to join us at Leonardo in Luton in a predominantly office and laboratory-based role.

What You’ll Do As a Systems Engineer

• Development of Requirements and Test Plans
• Control of Parts and Documentation, including change management
• Collaboration with multi-functional teams on system and sub-system development for Tempest and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)
• Work with suppliers, integrators, and users across the UK

Our Systems Engineers work in multidisciplinary teams spanning a range of activities pulling together the necessary engineering and technology strands into a high-performance system, bridging the gap between the theoretically possible and the practically implementable.

Examples of Work

• Engaging with stakeholders, defining requirements for a new system
• Conducting cost and functional performance trade-offs and evaluation of proposed solutions
• Modelling a system to understand observed simulated performance
• Development of capability within limitations and constraints of the target hardware
• Designing and conducting testing and trials to prove equipment function and performance
• Opportunities to lead technical activities and initiatives
• Mentoring and coaching other engineers
• Creating and delivering reports, and proposals to customers and industry partners
• Supporting knowledge sharing and exploitation of good practice

What You’ll Bring

• A science-based Honours degree or equivalent experience
• Experience or a desire to gain electronic warfare domain knowledge
• Knowledge of the systems engineering lifecycle, particularly in the following areas:
• Problem definition
• Requirements engineering, including the use of IBM DOORS
• Systems Architecture
• Synthetic Environments
• Systems Modelling and Analysis
• Integration
• Verification and Validation
• Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)

It would be desirable if you had experience from some of the following:

• Experience of working with related specialisms such as safety, security, airworthiness or reliability
• Domain-specialist knowledge such as:
• Digital signal processing
• RF systems
• Multi-sensor data fusion and tracking
• Real time data simulation/generation
• Military Electronic systems
• Data analysis using AI or Machine Learning
• Operational Experience in Electronic Intelligence or Electronic Warfare

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), along with an additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV), including meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit:  Due to the nature of the work and its connections to UK Defence strategy, applicants must have five years UK Residency and hold a UK Passport.

Salary Range

• Senior Engineer £45,000 to £58,000

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to…